sigh, I've spent the past hour unsuccessfully programming my 85. I am using the arduinoisp with my uno, windows 7. When I upload the sktech to the arduino the "communicating with slave" led blinks really fast, then the "error" pin blinks a few times, then the "heartbeat" led goes back to doing it's thing. ?In the arduino ide it just says uploading to board... and hangs there until i disconnect the usb cable to the uno. Any help?

edit: is the pinout for "your" arduino tiny85 file the same as the one from high low tech? I wrote the blink program to run pin 0, but now I'm wondering if it might be pinned differently

Then I tried to go back to the blink, and get the same error. I unplugged everything and closed the IDE, even rewrote the ISP sktech to the uno. Same error, tried a second attiny85, loaded the first sketch fine, then got the error uploading the second sketch... any advice? I read that a noisy power supply could have caused this, so I installed a 10 uF cap to filter the power with no change, all in a breadboard, no soldering... I just find it odd that I can upload one sketch but not another...

Then I tried the fade sketch, and I gotCode:avrdude: please define PAGEL and BS2 signals in the configuration file for part ATtiny85

I believe that particular error can be ignored.

To "fix" this problem, you need a newer version of the AVRDUDE.CONF file (or you can modify the one you have). In my case, I'm using the latest version of WinAVR. It was easy to get working and solves a few other problems.

That problem will have to be addressed. Unfortunately, it is not one I've ever encountered so I will only be able to offer general advice.

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Then I tried to go back to the blink, and get the same error. I unplugged everything and closed the IDE, even rewrote the ISP sktech to the uno.

That was a good first step. You've confirmed that the "programmer" is very likely not the problem.

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Same error, tried a second attiny85, loaded the first sketch fine, then got the error uploading the second sketch...

That was a good second step.

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any advice?

Yes. Try again with no "devices" (LEDs in your case) connected to the target (the 85 processor). It is very important that the programmer and target are able to drive the three ISP lines to VCC (five volts). Any load on the pin (like an LED) can be a problem (a piezo with no resistor wreaks havoc). Once you have a working setup, you will be able to experiment with what loads you can get away with.

In addition, make certain that you've wired everything correctly, there are no loose connections, and that the wires aren't "too long" (a few inches is good; a few feet is OK; a few yards is bad).

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I read that a noisy power supply could have caused this, so I installed a 10 uF cap to filter the power with no change, all in a breadboard, no soldering...

Are you powering the target (85) from the programmer (Arduino)? How is the programmer powered? USB?

In the long term, you will want to include a 0.1uF capacitor across GND and VCC on the 85 processor as close to the processor as possible. The processor will run fine without it (you don't need to add it now) but it dramatically reduces the digital noise (e.g. the analog-to-digital converter behaves much better).

I have disconnected the LED everytime I've tried to program it. The uno is powered by usb. I tried using a 9v battery connected to a 5v 1 amp regulator, with two 10uf caps, one right at the regulator, one right next to the leads for the 85. I'm using premade jumper wires, longest one is about 6 inches. I did not change any wires at all between the first and second sketch except for the one for the positive leg of the led. I removed the uno and then uploaded a simple sketch to the uno, and it worked. Reloaded the isp sketch, same error. I am going to reset this laptop just for kicks....

So, I tried a 3rd attiny85, I uploaded the blink program twice successfully. Then, without touching any wires except for disconnecting the LED leg from pin 0, I uploaded the fade sketch, then got the same error. I can't load anymore sketches to the 85, so apparently something in the fade sketch is causing the error...I don't know enough about the actual behind the scenes stuff, does anything seem potentially fatal in this code? I've used it on my uno as is, just with a different pin number.

is it possible this is caused by using the uno as an isp(the verification error, not the avrdude.conf errors)? Would it be worth my time to buy the pololu? Or do I need to fgure out this error before deciding?

with the 84 I reverted back down to version 19, aside from the "please define" errors it worked fine once (after killing the serial support)

since then I have not been able to upload via the ide, but avrdude provided from the winavr package works fine, though I am using 16MHZ clock on the chip (22 has delay issues, 19 has serial issues)

In all honesty every single time I go to a non mega x8 chip its this big drama hassle of fiddlefarting around getting version X to work with core Y, my advice is to not touch the darn thing once you have it running and make a backup, I didnt and pissed away a better part of the day getting blink to upload 2 times in a row

Now I get this error lol:error at {arduino root}\[glow]arduino-0022\arduino-0022[/glow]\hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf:320 unrecognized character: "a"

I assume there is only one "arduino-0022" in the path.

I have emailed you a ZIP file and sent you a link to the same ZIP file via Personal Message. There are two subdirectories in the ZIP file. Try the configuration file in the "1" directory first. If that does not work, try the configuration file in the "2" directory.

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is it possible this is caused by using the uno as an isp(the verification error, not the avrdude.conf errors)?

It is possible. But, there are people who have successfully used an Arduino as an ISP. In fact, most AVR programmers are implemented using an AVR processor.

So, the wiring, the RESET, the breadboard (the external hardware) are more likely to be the culprit.

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Would it be worth my time to buy the pololu?

I'm a big fan of the Pololu programmer. It has worked almost flawlessly so far. Adding male pins has made it very handy to use with a breadboard.

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Or do I need to fgure out this error before deciding?

That's the route I would take but I would also place a time limit on the effort.

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since then I have not been able to upload via the ide

How very strange. My route has been the opposite. I had all sorts of trouble getting the IDE to upload and now that's the only method I use. I wonder if I've left somthing out of the core...